Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January, 2020

Pate de Choux (British Baking Show - Bake #4)

I used the less fussy pate de choux recipe that I made growing up before I knew the correct french term for cream puff dough.   I have made it the fussy way and the way I will describe below and I don't really notice much difference.   Here is is:  Put one stick of butter in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil; add 1 cup of flour and stir until combined; remove from heat and add 4 eggs one at time making sure that each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. If you have never made these before, the dough gets slimy when you add the add and then you keep stirring and in a blink it incorporates into the dough.     For this bake, I made chocolate eclairs with chocolate glaze and regular cream puffs with a cardamom cream filling.   Pipe eclairs or puff onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment and cook until golden.  Cook time depends on the size of the puff but make sure to not take them out too early so they are able to have the right crisp and not be doughty inside. 

The Tale of Two Ciabattas (British Baking Show - Bake #3)

The simple   Paul Hollywood Ciabatta Recipe .  How simple is it?  The ingredients are few and the technique seems simple but there is also a bit of practice makes perfect needed here. So far I have made two tries at it.   The flavor was good in both but I made a crucial error on the 1st try so it was a bit dense.  I should have paid attention tot the kind of yeast - Instant Yeast means Fast Acting Yeast and I just breezed right past that distinction the 1st time.   I have some pics of both tries below. They both mixed up very well and formed a lovely dough ball. Gluten is really amazing to watch form. Try 1   Try 2 Try 2 The problem was in the rise - see difference in size of dough before and after proofing               Try 1 Before Try 1 After               Try 2 Before Try 2 After The shaping of the dough is a little harder than it looks.  The dough is quite soft and sticky so you have to be decisive with your cuts and getting it on

Buche De Noel (British Baking Show - Bake #2)

I have always wanted to make a Buche de Noel and this year I finally decided to jump in.  It wasn't perfect but it looked pretty darn good and tasted great.  And it was even gluten free so that everyone could enjoy it on Christmas Eve. Again, I did not find one recipe that fit the bill for what I was making so I used pieces of different recipes to make: A gluten free chocolate sponge, a french chocolate buttercream (so delicious) and meringue mushrooms as well as just regular whipped cream for the center. The "ribbons"  Add the chocolate and in the oven.   It is a very thin cake so make sure you watch the timing  Dust with cocoa powder and sugar to roll it up while it is still warm  Cool the cake completely while rolled up  Fille with cream and.... re-roll.   This was tricky and the cake was sticky.  I am not sure if that is related to the gluten free cake or if it is just tricky.  Even if it looks messed up a bit, keep going as the french chocolat